This invention relates to a simple and inexpensive device for enabling the tie down of lines, ropes or elastic cables to be quickly and easily attached, tensioned, and reliably fixed in place under tension, while also enabling them to be quickly and easily released. It also relates to a tie down device that maintains tension of the load even upon a sudden and unexpected potential failure of the primary tie down device.
A variety of devices for tie-down tensioning are known in the art. However, such devices have been subject to one or more disadvantages in use. For example, some of the devices of the prior art have made it difficult to adjust the length of the tie-down to size prior to tensioning. This is especially true for those devices incorporating complex and inconvenient ratcheting or cam mechanisms. Most other devices are complicated and expensive to manufacture. Others incorporate sheaves, pins, springs, ratchets, cams, and other small parts that will wear out, potentially fail suddenly and without warning, and not work properly in harsh, muddy, wet, and extremely cold environments.
Furthermore, until now most prior art devices have required the user to engage a special unlocking feature at the device to release the rope tension. Unavoidably, this positions the user in close proximity to the load and provides no easy way to put distance between the user and the potentially harmful affects of releasing the tension.
Other more pressing problems with the prior art relate to potential unintended and catastrophic sudden failure due to inherent design flaws. For example, in most prior art devices the hook is connected to the main tensioning device with some form of rope or strapping. In other devices the hook is fastened directly to the housing. In all these example, should the housing or mechanism in the housing fail, the load tension will release. Furthermore, there is no back up method for maintaining the tension in such an event.